Baffled by spiral into drug addiction

Pictured in this photo taken last Christmas (from left) Trevor Ankney, Randall Ankney, the Ankney’s niece, Johannah Miller, Jennifer Smith-Ankney and Bonn Ankney. Jennifer said she later discovered Bonn was high on heroin when this photo was taken.

Bonn Ankney had everything going for him. He was polite, respectful, athletic, a college graduate with a good job as a HVAC specialist.

But he had a secret he hid from his parents. He was addicted to drugs. And it has ruined his life.

Ankey, coincidentally, was a classmate of Kacie Rumford at Kennett High School. Both graduated from there in 2007. It was at Kennett High where he was introduced to pills and marijuana, and the stage was set for a downward spiral in his life that still has not hit bottom.

“I don’t know how long he was doing it before we found out,” said Jennifer Smith-Ankney, his mother. “He hid it well. He went to work every day. And every single day he shot up in his bedroom.”

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Bonn’s brother, Zachary, 27, is also a heroin addict. Today, both are being treated for their addictions.

Jennifer said she is baffled how her two sons could have their lives ruined by drugs. She and her husband, Randall, went to every sporting event their children had. They went to church together, where Bonn was a youth group leader. They vacationed together.

“There is no prejudice when it comes to heroin,” Jennifer said. “It doesn’t matter if you come from a good family, it doesn’t matter if you have a good job, or you have a college education or if your parents are divorced or not. It tears families apart.”

Stephanie and Randall’s world fell apart when their 7-year-old niece found needles in socks around the house.

“We thought something was up because he just lived in his bedroom, and it was a pig sty,” Jennifer said. When he was sent out to rehab, we found needles where you wouldn’t believe we found needles, hundreds of them. And this is a kid who didn’t drink.”

Bonn went into rehab for 10 days, the longest time that insurance will cover the costs. Then he went into an outpatient program, something Jennifer called “a joke.”

“Once you do heroin for three times, you are hooked and can’t stop,” she said. “He started using again when he was in the outpatient program. You can’t throw addicts in a house and charge $165 a week and expect them to stay clean. They need a program to follow.”

The cruelest reality of the situation occurred last Thanksgiving, when both Zach and Bonn went to their parents’ Oxford home. The Ankneys relocated from Kennett Square shortly after Bonn graduated from high school in 2007.

“They cleaned us out,” Jennifer said. “They took all our money from our checking account and used it for drugs. Everything has been a lie. They lied, lied, lied.”

After that, Bonn and Zach’s parents resorted to tough love.

It was the day after Christmas, and Bonn got arrested in Wilmington, Del., after attempting to buy drugs. He was sent to jail. He called his parents asking to be bailed out.

“I cried on the other side of the phone,” Jennifer said. “I said no.

“Do you know how hard that was for me to do? I love both my boys. I just couldn’t take grieving for him every day as he lived on the edge.”

Today, Bonn lives at the Gaudenzia House in Delaware, a facility that offers long-term drug and alcohol addiction and rehabilitation services. In a phone interview from the facility, he said he is trying to get his life back to once again become a productive member of society.

“Drugs took over my life,” Bonn said. “I started off at a young age at Kennett smoking pot and it progressed into prescription painkillers and I got to the point I did it because I had to. After high school, it was heroin. Once you get that into your body, it controls you.”

Bonn said the drug use cost him not only his well-paying job, but his seven-year relationship with his girlfriend.

“It’s not something you can put down and say no more,” he said. “It really destroys your life. It takes everything from you. It’s no joke, and more and more kids are getting hooked (on heroin) because of prescription drugs.”

Jennifer said he hopes the campaign being launched by Kacie Rumsford’s parents will encourage parents to take more notice of their children’s actions.

“I feel for these parents who just lost their daughter,” she said. “It breaks my heart, but they are free now. It sounds terrible, but they never have to worry about it again. I will have to worry every single day when they get out of rehab. With drugs, all there is, is darkness.”